Exposure therapy, also referred to by terms including but not limited to “prolonged exposure (PE),” “direct therapeutic exposure,” “flooding,” “implosive therapy,” “graduated exposure,” “systematic desensitization,” and “exposure and response prevention,” but hereafter referred to as “exposure therapy” is a treatment for various psychiatric disorders, psychosocial problems, and conditions (hereinafter referred to for convenience as “psychiatric disorders” but without intention to limit to any particular type or degree of seriousness of condition).
In exposure therapy, a patient displaying symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other such psychiatric disorder as a result of some traumatic or stressful event might, with the aid of a therapist, be repeatedly exposed to imagery and stimuli associated with the traumatic event until the patient becomes desensitized or habituates, such that fear reactions to the imagery and stimuli are extinguished. During imaginal exposure therapy the patient might first be exposed to a memory of an event by orally (or sometimes in writing) recounting the memory repeatedly for a prolonged period, in the therapist's office, thereby evoking the emotional experience of the event, and creating an exposure environment in the therapist's office. Then the patient might replicate exposure to the memory and associated emotions outside the therapy office, using sound, imagery, or other such stimuli, such as, but not limited to, a recording of the patient describing the traumatic event to the therapist that might be used to recreate the exposure environment outside the office of the therapist. During in vivo exposure treatment, the patient might be exposed to stimuli associated with the traumatic event, such as, but not limited to, objects, clothing, persons, smells, sounds, pictures, or locations that elicit emotional distress due to their association with the traumatic event. The patient might be directed, for example, to go to a location at which the traumatic event occurred or to a location reminiscent of the traumatic event, in which case this location would serve as the exposure therapy environment. In either case, repeated and prolonged contact with the exposure imagery and stimuli produces the desensitization or habituation that allows the patient to gradually overcome fear, anxiety, sadness, and other distress associated with the event.
Although exposure therapy has been shown to be effective, many individuals with PTSD, anxiety reactions, and other psychiatric disorders never obtain exposure therapy. For example, some individuals may not seek treatment because they do not realize they have a problem, would prefer to solve it on their own, or encounter substantial financial, logistical, or emotional barriers to seeking treatment. In addition, the availability of professionals trained and willing to deliver exposure therapy is limited. It would therefore be desirable to implement exposure therapy by computer to allow automated or partially automated administration of treatment, thus reducing barriers to dissemination and increasing the number of patients capable of receiving treatment.
Conventional virtual reality (VR) programs may provide some degree of computer-assisted exposure therapy. However, the stimuli in such conventional VR programs have typically been created by a computer programmer. That is, conventional VR programs typically contain graphics and audio representing the computer programmer's construction of generic stressful events. Such conventional VR programs are therefore inadequate where it is preferred that the stimuli used for treatment be created by the patients themselves or otherwise be based on the individualized real-world experiences of the patients. There is therefore a need for a computer-assisted exposure therapy creation and delivery system that employs audio and/or video or other media recordings in the voice and/or image of the patient or otherwise incorporates input from the patient to replicate his or her specific traumatic memories.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.